The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1887-10-04


take the stage and proceed to the landing.
Nv andegrift,' began, as we iolted over the
stones i'll the clumsy vehicle, ''your estimate
OF our mental calibre is not far from correct
but we should deserve to be called worse than
fools if we followed your suggestion. There
are two steamers leaving here today within
half an hour of each other. Shall we put this
affair into the keeping of chance?'
"NeS,' he answered, after 4 moments hest
tation, Il am agreeable"
"The Louisiana is advertised to leave five
hours ahead of the Creole" / drew penny
from my pocket. 1--WE Will toss up for the
passage on the louisiana The loser will fol-
low ON the Creole Whoever first gets to
No. - Baronne street, shall have clear
field until Miss Sullinger has decided his fate.
Shall / toss?'
eyes. Heads, - he muttered, with his teeth
set hard together and the muscles of his face
twitching in q way that betrayed the strong
excitement under which he labored.
l spun the coin and it dropped i'll the straw
at the bottom of the coach. Nandergrift fell
to his knees and eagerly drew the straw away
until the coin was exposed.
st is tails" he announced, and called to the
driver to stop. [ invited him to remain in the
vehicle until we reached the landing, but he
persisted in getting out without delay, and in
such surly manner that did not urge the
point. | confess that | felt anything but COM
Portable when | found myself alone. L had
been averse all my life to taking a very seri-
Gus view OF anything, and this matter
seemed to be growing decidedly serious.
l went aboard the steamer. however, and
enjoyed the voyage down the Mississippi quite
as well as if had undertaken it for the sake
of the voyage alone, and when the Creole
hove i'll sight, when we were still fifty miles
from our destination my interest III the race
as between Nandergrift and myself was soon
merged i'll the general excitement produced by
the prospect of a race between the two
steamers.
So absorbed did I become in the struggle
that followed that it was not until the Louis
lana was actually alongside the wharf
and the gang-plank out, while the
Creole was swinging around in mid
stream, that [ realized how much | had at
stake and how nearly had come to losing it.
l sprang into cab and was driven rapidly to
No. = Baronne street In answer to my ring
an old, weather-beaten man shuflied down
flight of stairs, upon which the door opened
and looked at me curiously. l gave him a
card and asked to see Captain Sullinger. He
took the bit of pasteboard in his horny fingers,
but spoke without looking at it.
"Cap'n Sullinger and his daughter put in
here, but they was off on another cruise the
next day; but''--he looked up at me with a
grin and half closed one watery eye-"if you're
one OF the chaps as was as likely as not to
make voyage from New York i'll the wake of
the skipper, why there's some papers for you"
The papers proved to be note addressed
to me. 1t was signed by Miss Sullinger, who
said that she had left it to serve in the posi-
BILE, but wholly improbable, emergency of an
inquiry ON the part of her friends. Her father
had remained i'll New Orleans but few hours,
and they were just leaving the house to con-
tinue their Journey This time their destina-
ton was Mobile, where her father had friend
in the person of the landlord of the City tav-
ern. This news fairly staggered me, and then
for the first time began to entertain a suspicion
which thereafter gained ground rapidly. What
innocent theory could account for Captain Sui
fingers eccentric flight? L was endeavoring to
reach satisfactory solution of this problem
when, just as l turned the corner of the block
i'll which the house stood, was suddenly con-
fronted by Vandegrift. He looked like man
who was suffering from a severe Illness or was
going mad. His pale face and peculiar gilt
ter in his eyes suggested the last suspicion.
"Did she ask about me? OF course 1 must
pay my respects or she would think it strange
unless you told her l had not come-that
would have been the right thing to do
His agitation was painful. l forgot his I'M
friendly demeanor for the last few days and
felt as tender toward him as had been wont
to do of old.
"You are not ill., are you, old fellow ~ /
calculated with real concern. ge
Moves. Castemon, l am n wretch. Il
have been almost wishing you were dead" nos
He buried his face i'll his hands and became
a picture of misery. ..s f.5.-Etr
You are foolish, Jack, but I ammo better
off than yourself as matters stand. They are
gone.i
He frightened up at once.
"Gone? Is it possible? Then you haven't
won the race yet? But do you know where
they are?'
gave him the note which he read in 81
lence.
"Shall we continue the journey together?"
/ asked.
the hands of chance it must remain. There is
stage coach from Gulfport, on Mississippi
sound, to Mobile By crossing the rigolettes
and hiring conveyance to GulfpOrt we can
reach our destination in a much shorter time
than by water. When we arrive in Gulfport
we must decide by lot which of us shall take
the first STAGE
His face had become flushed and he spoke
with eagerness and animation. We made i'm
mediate preparations to continue our journey.
If any doubt existed in our minds
that we had small reason for under
taking such chase in the first place, the
excitement that always attends any chase had
completely mastered us, and we had now an
additional incentive to that which had orig
inally caused US to begin the journey
We reached Gulfport without incident and
the penny being again resorted to, gave me
the start once more. Vandegrift had not yet
suffered a relapse from his high spirits.
you've the devils own luck Castlemon,"
he said, "but it will desert you 1t is a good
beginning you know"
His words seemed likely to prove true, for the
next day the rickety old coach was going down
along incline at a terrific speed, when sudden
crash was followed by dead stop which sent
me headlong INTO q corner of the vehicle, where
was speedily joined by two females, who
were the only other occupants of the coach.
The Jehu who had managed to retain his seat,
climbed down and rescued us from our uncom-
Portable position, remarking as he did so:
THAT settles this craft for a day or two.
She's smashed her two front wheels into
kindlin' wood"
"Will we have to wait 50 long?" 1 inquired,
anxiously
"No If tomorrows stage haint got any more
passengers'n this'n We can all pile into it, so
yen only have TO wait day, maybe. There's
a tavern half mile below, where We can stop"
$50 we shall reach Mobile together after
all, !" reflected, my mind reverting to Jack as
escorted the two females toward the tavern.
My impatiencs, combined with the scant ac-
commodations of this waysidc inn, drove sleep
from my eyelids, and ! was in an irritable
state when the stage drove up, con-
siderably after noon Of the next day
Vandegrift had the inside TO himself.
! handed in my two felow-passengers and was
following them, offering some sort OF eXplana-
ton TO Jack, when he sprang TO his feet and
motioned me back with his hands
"Oh, no. CastlemOn, you have lost your go
You must suffer the consequences Of your acct
dent"
His voice was high-pitched and tremulous
with excitment. and his manner first surprised
and then angered me. l was about forcing my
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